Tag Archives: rest

I upgraded to a new iPhone recently, and was reminded about the need to “max your battery”. If you’re not familiar with the term, you’re likely familiar with the need. A mobile phone, like any batter driven device has a maximum operating time per battery charge. If you “max your battery” by charging it for 24 hours before the first use and letting it drain down to 0% from time to time, and then re-charge it to 100% you keep the battery life as close to “max” as possible. Though battery materials have changed, and you don’t need to fully deplete and recharge lithium batteries – charging between 15% and 85% will work), the concept is still the same. If you fail to fully charge the device (well beyond your screen telling you 100%) when you first buy it, or you frequently begin charging your device when you have 33% battery power left, your battery actually begins thinking it’s a smaller battery (aka an 80% is 100% charge), and over time the battery time itself diminishes. Before you know it, your batter life is well below the max, and often less than half.

As I was maxing out the battery on my new phone, I couldn’t help but think that the human body and someone’s general level of energy follows a similar path to the mobile phone battery. If you push your body well beyond normal from time to time (e.g. running, working out, extreme sports, etc.) – expending your battery completely, while at the same time getting a regular good night’s sleep – re-charging your batter fully, you will find you have far more energy. If you keep your body in the “middle zone” not too much activity, and frequently cut corners on sleep, your energy will begin to diminish. As it diminishes, you will move less, sleep worse and over time your energy will be analogous to a mobile phone that needs to be plugged in all the time. Your plug may be coffee, Redbull, 5 hour energy, etc., or you just may move less. The point, push your body on a regular basis, and get a good nights sleep on a regular basis and your energy level will show it. Max your battery.

In mid January I came down with a head-cold that evolved to the flu. Felt really bad for a few days, and “not to good” for over two weeks. Rest, hydration, and a bit more rest and I started to feel better. I’m a driven person, so it sucked to rest for the majority of two weeks, since weight training and running have been woven into the fabric of my life for the past 20+ years. However, when you’re body using every ounce of energy to fight off disease, you do not want to over-extend and redirect your energy to breaking down muscle fibers – – and give the bacteria and/or virus the edge. So, I fought my compulsion and didn’t didn’t push it.

Started feeling better the latter part of January, as my son caught what I had and took it to another level. He’s 11, plays sports and is a tough kid, but this ‘bug’ really worked him over. He missed a week of school, and really just stayed in bed, slept and didn’t watch TV or play video games (those are signs of feeling really bad for an 11 year old boy). As he started to recover, my wife and daughter started feeling like crap and are both fighting solid head-colds at the moment. I feel good, but had a slight (pre-cold) itch in my throat. Now, I’ve beaten the bug that I caught in mid January, but I also know that these viruses morph, and that it’s possible to catch something again on the back-end of a “Family sickness” cycle. Thus, before this thing gains any traction, I’m all in with heavy hydration, healthy eating and really watching my ‘rest to exertion’ ratio.

On a business trip all week, so I’m hoping that some fresh air, and a few days out of the “house of sick’ will break the cycle.

While juggling all of the demands of work, family, friends, hobbies, ect. may make you tired, sleepy and cranky, it’s not always easy to get the sleep you need for good health. I found that post-kids I could sleep at the drop of a hat, which wasn’t the case when I was younger. However, when I am under pressure at work, have too much going on in general, and need sleep the most, it can be difficult to “click over”, and get that deep sleep my body (and mind) need.

I just read an article from Yahoo!Shine titled “Weird Reasons You Can’t Sleep”. Definitely written from a woman’s perspective, for women, but I think some of the key messages are gender neutral. They even site a Michigan State study that demonstrated those that use their smart phone or tablet after 9pm “didn’t sleep very well” (and they have some statistics to back up the quote.

Here’s their list of “Weird” things that negatively impact a good night’s sleep:

Working/playing on your smart phone or tablet too close to bedtime.

Watching TV – I think this one depends on what your watching.

You smoke a cigarette – Spoiler alert, cigarette’s can kill you 1,000 ways, so this shouldn’t surprise anyone. Do what you can to quit.

Your bra is too tight – I can’t relate, but will note that the idea of trying to sleep in socks or a snug T-shirt is terrible, so I can’t imagine a tight bra choking you out being a good thing.

You ate grilled chicken for dinner – Protein is great for your health, but too much, too close to bedtime can cause a problem.

It is nice to have another good reason to unplug and turn off your “smart” devices to enjoy your family, evening and even get a better night’s sleep.

Probably a consequence of too much turkey on Thanksgiving, I feel like I could use a couple more hours of sleep at the moment. How can I wake up tired, “puffy eyed” and groggy, when I slept a solid 8 hours last night? I remember my parents when they were my age telling me “as I get older, I find I need less sleep.” I also know that I work with a few highly energetic, hard-charging colleagues, who pride themselves on the fact that they only need 5 or 6 hours of sleep. I’ve blogged on the importance of sleep before, but how I feel this morning, in conjunction with my other posts on “aging” makes me want to drop a little knowledge for your consideration. File these away as absolute truths if you will:

You Need to Sleep – How’s that for a mind-blowing opening factoid for my list. Obviously, my degrees were well earned. On a serious note, there’s not a health guru, dietician, spa manager, or other “health & wellness” related professional on the planet that will leave this one off their list. To reap the benefits of your workout, diet, etc., you must get enough sleep so that your body can repair itself at a cellular level. And you only need to watch a couple of episodes of the TV show “Survivor” to understand sleeps role in psychological health, but I’ll save that diatribe for a future post.

Don’t Fool Yourself (At Least if You’re Human) – I’ve reviewed a lot of research regarding sleep and how much we need as humans, so that we rest and recharge. As with most research there are variances in the findings. However, there are a few powerful commonalities across studies. One such commonality is the myth that some people can function perfectly on 4-5 hours of sleep. The fact is they may function quite well after sleeping only 4-5 hours on occasion, but they’re still hurting themselves in the process, and over time it will catch up to them (physically and mentally). While a few famous short sleepers like Madonna, Bill Clinton and Margaret Thatcher have made the rest of us seem a bit inept, the experts claim these individuals simply “don’t (or didn’t) know how tired they really are (were).” Thomas Roth, Ph.D., sleep researcher at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, says that too little sleep is simply bad for your health. It can make you ineffective (it impairs performance, judgment, and the ability to pay attention), sick (it weakens your immune system), and overweight. In fact, women who slept five hours or less a night were a third more likely to gain 30 pounds or more over 16 years than women who slept seven hours, according to a Harvard School of Public Health study.

Don’t be A Rumpelstiltskin – Research has shown that each person’s “perfect amount of sleep” depends on the person, how tired he/she is, and a number of other factors. The range for most people is 7-9 hours of restful sleep per night in order to reap all of the necessary benefits. While research has consistently demonstrated problems with too little sleep, there’s also a lot of research demonstrating problems with sleeping too much. You don’t have to sleep 25 years, as Rumpelstiltskin did in the fairy tale to have a problem (although I would also point out how bad he looked after sleeping so long). The research has not demonstrated a causal relationship between excessive sleep and health issues, but there are a number of studies in which excess sleep and some significant health issues correlate strongly. Consistently sleeping in excess of 9 or 10 hours may be a symptom of an underlying physical or mental illness. Excess sleep no longer provides you the benefits your body needs, and you’re then cutting into alert, “being human” time, and the chance to move your body (which it needs).

“Sleep Camels” Don’t Exist– A dear friend and former colleague of mine, Howard, was referred to on multiple occasions by my organization’s CEO as a “Sleep Camel.” This was because Howard could go incredibly long periods of time with little/no sleep, and then all at once (e.g. on a 14 hour flight) he would sleep the entire time. I will note that Howard always had a “nutty professor” quality that people found endearing and funny, and having seen him a number of times recently (post retirement), a well rested Howard is far less nutty (albeit still funny). I think it was sleep deprivation! The bottom-line is that you can’t push yourself all week when it comes to sleep and then “make it all up over the weekend.” Harvard sleep expert Robert Stickgold, Ph.D., refers to the pattern of starving your body of sleep all week and then trying to binge over the weekend “sleep bulimia” (check out Deep Into Sleep from Harvard Magazine). In fact, this pattern is very unhealthy. It upsets your circadian rhythms and makes it even harder to get refreshing sleep.

Sleepy yet? Take some time and ensure you’re getting enough, deep sleep, so that you reap all of the benefits – – and feel much better.

Like most things in life, the healthiest, most productive path tends to find balance in a sea of competing extremes. Your fitness routine is no different. For the majority of the population, the major themes that characterize the struggle to create and sustain a healthy fitness (aka workout) routine center around motivation, effort, and discipline. It’s about “getting started”, “pushing yourself”, and then “doing it consistently” and “never giving up”. We fight to go from a state of low activity or movement (imbalance) to a state where we are consistently getting our hearts pumping, bodies moving and muscles building (balance). This is a tough balance to achieve, because we all have multiple roles in life (husband/wife, employee, mom/dad, care-giver, etc.).

For those who fight through the gauntlet of reasons or excuses to not workout consistently, the challenge for “balance” may actually shift to that of how much time is spent stressing, challenging and breaking down your body and how much time you allow your body to recover – – aka your “Workout to Rest Ratio”. It’s interesting that the sheer motivation required to establish a strong, disciplined workout, can lead to the scales tipping too far the other direction, where we consistently stress and breakdown our bodies (muscles, tendons, etc.), yet don’t allow enough rest and recovery time for it to build back up, to sustain a healthy, balanced, level of overall fitness. I can think of a number of fitness gurus in my lifetime who seemed to have pushed themselves to the point of complete imbalance and in some cases an early demise.

Imbalance isn’t good for you, regardless of which end of the continuum you reside. If you’re not moving enough, push yourself, and do what you can to get your heart pumping and muscles breaking down on a regular basis. If you have clicked over and have a very consistent, challenging workout regimen, don’t forget that rest and provide the critical re-construction of your muscle fibers, as this is akey element of the process. A balanced Workout to Rest Ratio is something to which we should all be striving.

So, at this point the planets have aligned, and powerful forces have spoken. My task for the next 3-4 weeks. Heal. My list of nagging injuries that include achy shoulders and knees, now includes my core (ribs) via my snowboard injury sustained last weekend. So, “Mr Compulsive” will literally be taking a break from almost all of my normal day-to-day fitness routine (sit-ups, crunches, weights, etc.) until the third week in April.

I will continue to move my body, walk, take the stairs, etc., but this is going to be interesting. I’m thinking of doubling down on the nutrition side for this period, so that I keep my body as healthy as possible, and will ensure “No Sloth Mode”.

I’m a huge fan of sleep in all it’s forms, and to be honest, I think a mid-afternoon nap while having a sporting event on television on the background is my favorite way to grab a little bit extra sleep. I wanted to post this a reminder that some of the most basic, fundamental elements to good health are simple and very important. Things like drinking water, moving your body more…. and sleep.

If you’re active and are no stranger to pushing your body to, or past, it’s limits, you know pain. We’ve all heard the “no pain, no gain” workout motto. We can all agree that the achy, stressful, “I’m not sure I can keep going” pain during your workout doesn’t feel half as good as the “I just finished my workout and my muscles know it” pain that follows. The truth is that if you’re really active and not a bit sore most of the time, you may be taking it easy. And as you get older you’re going to ache anyway, so you might as well have those pains working for you.

The challenge is that sometimes we all come across pain that’s different. Not the “pain is gain” kind, but the “Holy @$*%!!! What was that?” kind. It can come in the form of a twinge, a jolt, a stab, crunch or pop. Now the real bad stuff, when you just know something’s wrong should be diagnosed by a doctor, so that you can be sure you’re approach to rehab isn’t in vain and that you don’t cause more serious damage. Symptoms like severe stabbing or shooting pains, lack of movement or severe swelling should always guide you to the ER or your family MD.

For those times when you just over did it and the result is a strained, sprained or sore muscle, ligament or tendon, the answer is RICE. I love carbs, and the #7 Charbroiled Chicken Bowl, with brown rice and black beans at Wahoos! Fish Taco (California Restaurant Chain) may be the perfect meal, but I’m not talking about that kind of rice. I’m talking about R.I.C.E. Here’s the magical, healing acronym that everyone should get to know on a personal level:(R) Rest – You build strength by tearing down muscle (your workout) and building it down. Usually 1 or 2 days between workouts will allow your muscles to regenerate (heal) and build. When you hurt yourself, you have to give your muscles, tendons, ligaments time to heal. This is not an easy step for those driven “type A” fitness folks, but it’s critical to healing, so stop it and rest!!!(I) Ice – Using ice packs or cold therapy helps reduce inflammation, which actually reduces additional damage that inflammation can cause. It’s important not to expose skin directly to the ice. Wrap ice, or an ice pack, in a towel to apply it indirectly. Ice the area for 10 to 20 minutes (out of each 60 minutes), four to eight times a day. Don’t apply ice for more than 20 minutes, or you risk cold damage. Don’t apply heat immediately to an injury, either — this can increase swelling, bruising, or internal bleeding. Heat can be used once healing is progressing, days later, to help relax the muscle.(C) Compression – Wrapping the injured limb in a snug elastic bandage can help reduce swelling. Compression also tends to feel good on the sore damaged muscle, and in some cases can provide stability (e.g. a knee sleeve that provides compression and keeps your joint from twisting or moving too much). Even products like Under Armour compression tops and leggins can speed your muscle recovery time (and feel great)(E) Elevate – Raise the injured limb above the level of the heart to help reduce swelling.

There you have it. A tasty recipe to help your aching muscles recover. As Mr. Hand would say “Learn it. Know it. Live it.”

I’m about half way through the rehab from my knee surgery and it seems that things are going really well. My knee doesn’t hurt and twinges of discomfort are becoming more and more rare. As you would expect, as the knee feels better and better the challenge becomes one of patience – – not doing something I shouldn’t, because the knee is feeling good during regular activity. For the past two weeks in addition to my normal every-other-day weight training, I have been diligent on the stationary bike for 30 minutes/day, followed that with a brisk walk, and topped off with 800 crunches.

My family and I have been at our condo in Mammoth Lakes, CA for the last few days. This is one of my favorite places in the world, but I must admit that being here and not being able to go 100% has been a challenge. This is where I can play with my kids in the snow, sled, and ski like a maniac. I also don’t have a treadmill or stationary bike here. So, while I’ve kept up with my big batch of crunches every day and added push-ups as well, I’ve had to be a much more passive vacationer than usual. Very different.

It’s really a test for me, and Ibelieve in focusing on the positives, so here are a few highlights from the past few days:

Saw a bear for the first time near our condo.

Took my good camera to the slopes to get some photos of the family skiing.

Family time and decorating for Christmas is always fun.

My body has had a lot of quality rest, but has not been in full “sloth mode.”